Qualcomm and Google prepare iPhone competitor

Qualcomm is working with Google to build an Android-based mobile handset.

For quite a long time now, Google and Qualcomm have been working diligently on a collaborative Android phone OS in hopes that it will be able to take on the colossal iPhone. According to Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Jha, the iPhone's good, but "there are opportunities to do some things better." That's where Android comes in.

“It is our expectation that a large number of Android phones will run on our platforms,” says Jha of the open-source operating system, often viewed as leverage to give Google a bigger place on the mobile internet. He told analysts that he has seen the latest version of Android, and it's "meaningfully better than the previous version".

The Google-founded Open Handset Alliance believes that it is getting very close to the first complete version of the software. Although Google has a bold vision for the platform, the lack of transparency in the development process has generated considerable frustration in the third-party developer community—an issue that will likely be addressed after the first devices are released.

The first Android phone, the HTC Dream, will be released under T-Mobile, likely around the time that the company launches their 3G network in October. Until then, we wait with baited breath to see what effect that Android has on the iPhone.